Pale and sick chameleon PLS help!!!

[lilygraccce]

My new chameleon is very small and I'm not sure of her age. she is sitting on a branch in the shade from her lights and she is very pale, she's asleep and doesn't wake up unless i wiggle her branch a little (i did because i feared that she was dead) I've been watering her properly and feeding her mealworms and crickets although i don't know if she caught the crickets or they escaped through the tiny hole in her cage. the cage is completely screen and i keep the temp around 80 degrees. does any one know whats wrong with her or how i can help? i would take her to the vet but there isn't one anywhere near by for exotic pets, pleeeaaasssee help!!

 

[noahmeno]

can you post a picture and fill out this? https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[lilygraccce]

Your Chameleon -veiled, female, probably about 2 months old, had her for 3 weeks
Handling - once a week maybe only if she doesn't run or seem stressed and gets on my hand by herself
Feeding - mealworms mostly, i put crickets in her cage but i don't think she got them
Supplements - zoomed reptivite once every week and a half
Watering - i have a dripper that is going from when i get home at 3 to when i go to bed and shut her lights off at 11 and i mist her once or twice a day i see her drinking from the dripper
Fecal Description - normal--same as my old cham who lived a full life and she's never been tested
History - My mom actually came home with her because i was so sad about the loss of my old cham, i believe she is from petco..

Cage Info:
Cage Type - large screened cage, big enough for a grown male veiled, don't remember exact size
Lighting - i can remember the bulbs are pretty old still from my old cham
Temperature - 80 during most of the day at the basking point i have an electronic thermometer
Humidity - my humidity gauge recently broke but I've been keeping it the same since my old chameleon so it should be normal levels for a veiled
Plants - no, i used to but i took them out when i got her because she was so small
Placement - in my bedroom, I've been in there a lot lately and wondered if that caused this butits in the corner and theres a big distance from where i am in my room and the cage
Location - indiana

 

[lilygraccce]

if needed i will email you a photo

 

[jajeanpierre]

A picture would be great.

Your description--pale and sick--is too vague to be able to even start to address what is wrong with your chameleon but I have some husbandry suggestions that will certainly help it.

If you are worried about her health, do not handle her at all. Stress suppresses the immune system.

Lighting during sleep time is also a huge stressor. Her lights should be on only about 12 hours a day. Having her cage lit for more is stressing her, which will negatively affect her health.

If she is pooping regularly, she is eating.

Your diet needs improvement as probably does your lighting. UVB lights start dropping off the amount of UVB they emit as soon as you turn them on. Most bulbs except the more expensive ones need replacement by 6 months. The UVB radiation does not go very far down into the cage--inches, not feet. You won't know if your UVB light is emitting any UVB unless you test it with a light meter.

That said, poor diet and lighting for a short period of time will not make your otherwise healthy chameleon sick. There is more going on that just poor lighting and diet but your description is just too vague. A picture would definitely help.

 

[lilygraccce]

here's a picture photo. and she does have lights off for sleep time I don't know if I didn't mention that or something but I turn them off for about 10 hours at night

 

[JaxyGirl]

If you have really old UVB bulbs you need to change them out ASAP with a new 5.0 !! If your UVB bulb is over 5 mos old it is not providing enough UVB to sustain your chameleon and she will become less active, stop eating and eventually get metabolic bone disease.

 

[lilygraccce]

thanks for telling me the same thing again but they're only about 3 months old I just cant remember the brand. but update I've been misting her with warm water and keeping her food right by her and she's up and eating now I think whatever she had passed and her color is less pale and back to normal

 

[jajeanpierre]

thanks for telling me the same thing again but they're only about 3 months old I just cant remember the brand. but update I've been misting her with warm water and keeping her food right by her and she's up and eating now I think whatever she had passed and her color is less pale and back to normal

If they are overheated, they will blanch.

 

[JaxyGirl]

thanks for telling me the same thing again but they're only about 3 months old I just cant remember the brand. but update I've been misting her with warm water and keeping her food right by her and she's up and eating now I think whatever she had passed and her color is less pale and back to normal

Sorry to be so repetitive...but I was just trying to help pass on the information I know having owned chameleons for over 8 years .